A Boy Named Lynn... Jan 01 '01    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet I'll be honest. My son's middle name is Lynn. I didn't chose the name because it sounded nice with his first name, Cody. In fact, we knew what his middle name would be months before we had his first name picked out. In my family, the first born child is always named Lynn. My grandfather's middle name is Lynn, as is my mother's, my sister's and mine. The name goes back farther in time, so far that I don't even know who the first recipient of the name was. My husband and I argued over his name. He just didn't understand that this was a tradition- all he cared about was the fact that his son was going to have a girl's name. My husband didn't want Cody to be ashamed of his name. I told him that he wouldn't be. After all, my grandfather the Marine, a strong willed man to be proud of, has the same middle name. He's not ashamed of it, and it hasn't affected his outlook on life. It's nine months later, and I've run into problems with his name. I tell people that my son is named Cody Lynn, and they automatically assume that he's a girl because of his middle name. In Cody's memory box, there's a card from a family member that reads: "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" But the more that I think about it, I realize that people haven't confused my son for a girl in over a month. The older that Cody gets, the less confused people seem to become. They can now look at him and realize that he's a boy- despite his name. Oh sure, I still have people who tell me that I was crazy for naming my boy Lynn. Some have even gone so far as to tell me that he could end up homosexual just because he has a woman's middle name. I don't think that. No, my son is all boy. I will raise him the way I choose, just like I named him. Family tradition is not set in stone- and I wouldn't have been disowned if I had named Cody something different. If Cody askes me for a Barbie for Christmas some year down the line, then I will buy him a Barbie doll. I won't go hog wild and buy him all Barbies, but he has every right to that Barbie doll. I would do the same if he was a girl, and wanted cars and trucks for Christmas. My parents bought them for me when I wanted them, why wouldn't I do the same for my kids? The moral of the story is- there is nothing wrong with my son's name. It isn't going to harm him as he grows older. He will be the same man he would be if he was named Cody Michael rather than Cody Lynn.

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